Toyota Shows Off Wicked-Looking Hydrogen-Fueled Race Car at Le Mans

• Toyota debuted a hydrogen-fueled racing prototype at the Circuit de la Sarthe ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

• Toyota calls it the GR LH2 Racing Concept, and it’s based on the GR010 Hybrid Hypercar that the brand races in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

• Kazuki Nakajima, the vice chairman of Toyota’s WEC team, said that Toyota’s main goal is to “expand the possibilities of hydrogen combustion engine technology.”

As part of its ongoing push to develop hydrogen racing technologies, Toyota unveiled a new hydrogen-fueled racing prototype at the Circuit de la Sarthe ahead of this weekend’s running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Toyota is calling it the GR LH2 Racing Concept, and it’s built from the same chassis as the GR010 Hybrid Hypercar that the brand races in WEC.

Sadly, the automaker didn’t feel the need to share any details on the hydrogen system or the powertrain, outside of confirming that they were built at Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Centre in Japan. The LH2 chassis itself was built at Toyota’s Gazoo Racing facility in Cologne, Germany.

According to a report from motorsport.com, Kazuki Nakajima, the vice chairman of Toyota’s WEC team and a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, said that Toyota’s goal is to “test not only the combustion engine but to learn a lot about the infrastructure and fueling system.”

“Our main target right now is to expand the possibilities of hydrogen combustion engine technology,” Nakajima said. While he wouldn’t confirm exactly when the LH2 will hit the track for real, Nakajima told the outlet that it isn’t far off.

Previous plans for the World Endurance Championship to add hydrogen racers to the field as early as 2024 have been pushed back to at least 2028. With the FIA approving new rules for liquid hydrogen storage during this week’s FIA Motor Sport World Council in Macau, that could now become a reality.

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